Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-04-02
FROM OVER THE SEA. 4
LADY cAIThNESS, etTTfR KNOWN
AS THE OUCHESSE DE pOMAR.
She Il the Chief Of the French Th.oSo-
phists. and She Is Here Instructis-iy
Described by Nr. Theodore stanton.
Her Lif. and Her Family.

laTls ptlltslltdi
The duchess spends the winter at Nic,',
where she lives i'll fine stvle aud IL an nc
knowledse sed leader IN society. \ few Ia,S
ago she gave there grand fancy dress hall.
She comes up to Paris in the spring and
throws open her elegant house. the Hotel
Pozzo di Borso where she eutertains with a
lavish hand Lady Caithn,~s is not only an
accomplished grand dame, KNOWN, how e
receive and be the equal of the most high
born Of the European nobility. but she is nlsn
a woman Of strong intellectual power, of
wide reading and learning, editor of maga-
zine and the author OF several books Although
she enjoys the society OF fashionable people.
she prefers intercourse with the learned. and
while her guests are dancing the hostess is
often found in secluded nook discussing the
most abstruse principles of Buddhism with
some simple scholar.
Here is the psdigree of this remarkable
parsonage: Maria MariateGui, Duchesse de
Pomar, has in her veins the blood Of Castillo
and England She was born at Madrid and
her mother. Mime. Maristesui, was the
daughter Of the younger brother OF the Mar
quis Of Northampton. This mother married
a Catholic and inculcated the same religion on
her only daughter, the subject of this sketch,
endowed with the intellectual force of English
womanhood and the graces Of Andalusia-
She married Gen. Count de Pomar, who
was much older than herself The union,
which was happy one, was broken in a few
years by the death of her husband
BY this marriage Nine. de Pomar became
the owner Of some fine plantations in .'uba,
and she frequently crossed the ocean to
! Dprit,sv 81 har ,,,t . ~,
| "Pearl of the Antilles" an incident happened
that showed the wonderful personal bravery
/ Of the duchess. She was giving n grand din
| ner party on a certain occasion when. being
informed by her servants that body of r.
| bellious negroes with arms in their hands
were marching to attack the mansion. she
! Immediately arose from the table begged
her guests 10 excuse her and declared that
she would go alone and put end to ftre re-
volt All attempts to dissuade her rrom this
purpose were vain. She did not wait even to
change her robe. but in full evening dress,
! low neck and short sleeves, ahlaze with da-
monds, started off on foot toward th,. in
furiated slaves. When she met them The
duchess exclaimed in a loud and commanding
voice: -kneel and ask pardonH' Either her
assured manner or the magniticenre of her at
tire and personal beauty-prohably both
had the desired effect on the susceptible and
superstitious negroes. They thought that
some supernatural being stood before them,
and all Immediately threw themselves at her
feet The brave woman then spoke to them
, in kindly manner. They consented to otey
her, and she led them back TO the mansion,
where she was welcomed BY the whole house
hold as protector and savior.
| have just spoken of the rich jewels Of
Nine de Pomar, which are q fortune in
themselves. The father collected them for his
daughter during his Journeys through South
America, and many richer ones were added
on her marriage day. Several of these Jewels
are famous throughout Europe. and there are
.,.is--.s--.s IL, ,,- - .
display than the Duchess de Pomar when Size
chooses to do so-which happens very rarely,
however. as she considers these precious stones
not as so many ornaments, but rs symbolic of
the worlds soul. In her eyes they are tails
mans and fetiches-a strange fancy that
comes Of her thcosophic studies
After the death of her first husband she
married Lord James Sinclair, chief Of the
clan of Sinclair and fourteenth earl Of Cath
ness. Just as Gen. De Pomar had n strong
taste for every thing relating to war and
military affairs, so Lord Caithness had q
thirst for the practical science. One day he
was visiting a ribbon factory when the ma
chinery suddenly came 10 stand still, and
a. the engineer was absent nobody knew how
to start il going again. Lord Caithness Of
fered to repair the damage. He Immediately
set to work. hoored all night, and when the
hands came to the factory in the
morning they found all in order and
resumed their occupations. Lord Caithness
was tn" inventor of mariners
compass that was adopted by the English
navy, and he is said to have been more proud
of this honor than Of all the great deeds Of
his ancestors He often crossed the ocean TO
look after the interests Of his wife at Havana,
and it was on one Of these voyages he fell i'll
and died at New York Lady Caitnness had
his body brough; back to Europe and laid to
rest. according TO his desire, in the royai
chapel at Holyrood, not far from the tomb
Of Mary Queen Of Scots, who was one of his
idols
Lady Caithness' religious ideas are not less
remarkable than her other characteristics
She is, as have already said, theosophist,
and believes that the great universal soul is
subdivided into innrmerabe fragments, per-
feet in themselves, one Of which is found in
each human being, forming the human soul
Again, each one Of these fragments is under
the influence of some special governing spirit
to which it is attracted by ties OF affection
Thus she declares that her soul is controlled by
that Of Mary Queen Of Scots, and curiously
! enough, Lady CaithneSs resembles the mar
tyred Mary Stuart in feature and mind She
pretends 10 have had mysterious interview
with the queen amidst the ruins of Holyrooi,
and that she is now in constant communica-
ton with her. Here Lady Caithness allies
herself with modern spiritualisni, although a
fervent adept OF theosophy, which states its
aim to be "the study Of different forms Of
philosophy and religion without adopting any
special belief" As the head of the Paris
TheoSophic society, she is constantly enter
tanning at her house whole delegations Of
Brahmins, from whom she is said to receive
most extraordinary revelations about the oc-
cult world.
The Duchess de Pomar-for this is the
name that she prefers TO lie known by in
theosophic circles-is no ordinary medium.
She is said to do wonderful things Take this
one for instance. The evening after the
burial Of Victor Hugo, sitting with friends,
she felt drawn toward her writing desk, and,
taking up zen, threw of these lines:
Death is the grandest kind of liberty,
II Is also the greatest sort OF progress,
II is the rising higher Of all that is
Superior in the human soul
/ June !. 1885. VICTOR HUGo.
| Whatever may be said concerning the
origin Of this missive, it must be admitted
that the style Is very Hugoish.
: THEODORE STANTON.
Sprained His Hyphen.
/ Ali true Irishmen chuckle to note that Sir